Study explores efforts to support the mental health and well-being of nursing home staff

A recent study titled "Efforts to Support the Mental Health and Well-being of Nursing Home Staff: Insights From Leaders," explores how nursing home leaders supported their staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cait Brown, a PhD candidate in Rehabilitation Science, co-authored the paper, along with colleagues from several institutions.

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, the study explores how nursing home leaders sought to support their frontline staff's mental health during the intense stress and trauma experienced by frontline nursing home staff throughout the pandemic. Despite widespread acknowledgment of these challenges, there has been limited focus on the efforts to support nursing home staff. In order to investigate how nursing home leaders supported staff, researchers interviewed 94 nursing home leaders via phone between January 2021 and December 2022.A

Analysis of these interviews revealed five key themes:

• Addressing Personal Stressors: Efforts to mitigate stressors in staff's personal lives, such as the risk of COVID-19 transmission to families and financial concerns.
• Providing Mental Health Services: Offering mental health services, including counseling and Employee Assistance Programs, alongside resources for self-care and mindfulness.
• Appreciation Initiatives: Initiatives to counteract negative media portrayals of nursing homes by recognizing and appreciating staff efforts.
• Supportive Environment: Creating an environment that prioritizes mental health, such as leadership initiatives and integrating burnout training into regular meetings.
• Modifying Staff Benefits: Expanding mental health coverage within staff insurance plans and offering additional paid time off.

Two-thirds of the nursing homes used staff-support strategies reflecting at least one of these five themes.

The study concludes that as the industry faces ongoing staffing challenges and newly proposed minimum staffing levels, designing and evaluating initiatives to recruit and retain qualified staff is critical. Insights from current efforts by nursing home leaders can guide the development of future strategies to enhance staff retention and well-being.